No private armed groups in Nueva Ecija, says PNP

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — A high-ranking official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced Wednesday that there are no more private armed groups (PAGs) operating in this province.

Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban, acting director of the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office (PPO), said that based on the latest validation of the PNP, there has not been a single PAG operating in the province which could be identified with certain politicians.

He said that the province may now be removed from the list of election hotspots in the country as PAGs, which may pose threats to the holding of an honest, orderly and peaceful elections in the province in 2013, have already been dismantled.

"In our validation, it’s zero," said Lukban, when asked if PAGs are still active in the province which could disrupt the peace and order in the province in the run-up to the 2013 polls.